All's Fair in Baths and Showers
by kilico40
Summary: Bulma and Vegeta have been sharing a bathroom while her bathroom is being remodeled. Some people just aren't patient enough to wait their turn though. We know that "all's fair in love and war", but perhaps in this case the same applies to a little thing called "bath time". One thing's for sure...No blow is too low! ONESHOT


A/N: Just a cute, funny exchange between our beloved couple during those infamous 3 years. Well...at least it was funny in my twisted mind. I tried to keep them as in character as I possibly could.

Also, I posted this earlier on today, but it was acting funky so I deleted it and posted it again

P.S. This is the first fan fic that I'm posting on this site to please be gentle.

Disclaimer: I own a really cute '03 Mitsubishi. I don't own Dragonball Z.

Bulma let out a deep groan. She couldn't believe that Vegeta had destroyed ANOTHER set of the battle droids that she and her father had created for him. She compared the blue prints to the opened droid again, though she pretty much knew them by heart after the numerous times she'd had to repair them. "At this rate, I'll never get any real time away from this laboratory". Everything looked ok on the inside. Until the new parts came in for her and Dr. Briefs to repair the shell of the battle droids, Vegeta would have to make do with the 4 that remained in working order. She sighed. "This makes no sense".

Vegeta had been spending at least 20 hours a day over the past two weeks training in the Gravity Room that she and her father had created for him. That was her guess at least, based on the few hours of the day that she'd catch him eating sumo-sized meals or prolonging her time getting ready because he was occupying the bathroom closest to her room; her personal bathroom was currently under reconstruction.

_Well I won't be locked up in here tonight_, Bulma thought closing up the lab and walking back toward the house. She'd been envisioning taking a long, relaxing bubble bath to soothe her tired achy joints since that morning, and nothing – including the demands of an arrogant prince – was gonna stop her from her vision.

She rubbed her bare arms. It was a chilly night. The day had been warm when she'd first entered the lab; the sun had still been up so she wore a short, colorful sun dress expecting her time in the lab to be brief. She would of brought a jacket with her had she known that Vegeta would come into the lab throwing a tantrum like a child and hurling around busted battle bots demanding that they be fixed, adding hours to the time she intended on spending in the lab.

_Ugh! Vegeta_… He'd added so much to her work load today. And, mentally, he'd also been throwing her for a loop as well. It'd been a few weeks now since she'd dropped that no good Yamcha for keeps. And in no time flat, somehow, Vegeta had managed to consume her thoughts; no matter that most of their interactions where haughty looks and exchanges of insults.

"Darn it Vegeta! Gosh, I hate you!" she exclaimed under her breathe as she pushed through the night time entrance of the home. -

"Well, woman, I suppose I'm just as fond of you." He said snidely in response

Bulma rolled her eyes, _Of course he had to be right there in the kitchen,_ "Go to hell", she shot at him, pushing him aside to grab a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. "Do you know that I spent all day in that darn lab because _you_ lack self restraint?"

"I am a Saiyan prince! I do not understand this human concept of 'restraint'" He slammed the door of the fridge shut behind her to accentuate his point, obviously with little force behind it seeing as how it remained intact. Bulma acknowledged the irony of the situation but decided to let him go on with his banter. "Do not blame me for the short comings of your faulty technology!"

"That technology is FAR from faulty! YOU just work those droids way too hard. I've told you numerous times that those things weren't made to operate for as long as you use them. Unlike 'your royal highness', they actually need a break!" Bulma opened the refrigerator door back up and looked for something quick and filling to eat in the process.

Vegeta looked at her with a face that told her that her words may have held some validity, but instead of letting her win an argument, he just retorted "Well, your battle bots need to be made to match the caliber of a _true_ Saiyan warrior like myself, woman".

She noticed the defeat in his eyes and smiled inwardly, "We're working on it Vegeta. In the mean time, my name is Bulma… BUL-MA!"

He ignored that last part of the comment. "Anyway, I lack nourishment. Make me something to eat!"

She sighed, "You're such a brute sometimes, I swear." She took a second look over in the fridge. She thought about grabbing a second helping of the double chocolate cake that her mother made earlier that day, but remembered the 2 extra pounds that the scale read after her shower that morning. She pulled out the makings for a salad. Throwing lettuce and other vegetables in a large bowl for him, she pushed it across the counter toward him. "Here, have fun with it." She began to fix her own.

"What is this?" He picked through the lettuce and tomatoes. "Do you really expect me to eat grass? A warrior needs real nourishment!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Veggies are nourishing. They have all kinds of good stuff in em."

"Maybe you misunderstand me, Woman. Where is the meat at?"

"You know, Vegeta, you're really acting like a diva." She plopped a few cold steaks into his bowl; leftovers of the lunch from earlier that afternoon. "This is gonna have to hold you 'til breakfast."

With a sigh, she sat back down and picked through her salad. She looked across as he seemed to inhale the food. "Oh don't mention it, Vegeta, really. It was nothing."

He shook his head at her sarcasm, "I owe you no thanks, woman."

As irritated as she was she smiled at him and ignored the comment.

"And, don't look at me like that, either, woman"

Her eye twitched, wondering if he figured out extra ways to call her woman just because she told him not to. She decided to let it go. "Whatever,Vegeta. What are you doing up anyway? Shouldn't you be power napping, or showering based on that horrible smell." She grinned at the insult; she was getting good at this.

"Like I can get through a shower without you banging the door down. And you should appreciate my aroma! _That_ is the smell of hard work, though based on the short life span of everything that you've build for me, I doubt it's a concept that you'd be familiar with"

She gasped loudly, laughing internally at his comment; she supposed that he was getting good at this also. Jumping up out of her seat she marched over to him.

"Look here!" she poked him in his chest with each word to accentuate her point; a firm muscular chest, she took note of as her eyes followed her fingers. The fitting tank he wore showed his muscularity off nicely. She was careful not let her eyes linger there for too long.

"Vegeta! You will not keep disrespecting me while you are a guest in my household. I have gone out of my way to clothe you, feed you, and provide you with all of the nonsense that you want to use to train to fight the androids that the kid from the future warned us about. If *I* don't start getting some respect from you, then I won't repair another thing for you!"

Vegeta caught hold her hand before she was able to poke his chest again.

"Look here, servant woman! You WILL continue to provide all of the services that you've been providing me, and not only will you like it, but you will also stay out of my way aside from it!"

He stood to his feet and stared her squarely in the eye, towering over her, despite their similar height. She tried to pull away from him to no avail. Darn him being stronger than her.

The look in his eye intimidated her for a moment, but she refused to let that show. She leaned in closer. "You just be glad my parents aren't home, because you'd really get a mouthful from me if you woke them up. And as long as you act out like this, the only one of those things that I'll do is leave you alone, now let go of my hand you jerk!"

Instead of releasing her, he tugged her closer, now feeling his chest slightly rubbing against hers. "You've got guts woman. Either that, or you're insane.

"I'm impressed that you run your mouth so much knowing that I could squish you like a bug" He released her hand. "Regardless, don't doubt that I'll make good of my promises to kill you" he started, turning sharply away from her on his heels. She turned to leave, glaring at him. She'd clean her mess up in the morning, but for now, a steaming hot bubble bath was sounding like salvation.

"Humph... I'll take that as a compliment coming from you, your highness", she started toward the steps, stomping away, "Maybe that'll do for now."

"Yeah, maybe," He retorted after her. "And Bulma," She looked back at him over her shoulder, a little shocked hearing her name fall from his lips.

"Next time you gawk after me that way, you'll have to pay. It's only natural that you'd lust after a Saiyan prince, but there's a price to touch. Besides, it's not fair unless I can look and touch as well" He snickered

She turned her head away from him quickly and rushed up the stairs, hoping he didn't catch her blushing. "I bet you wish you could!" She yelled mockingly at him on her way up.

(Later that evening...)

Bulma settled into a hot lavender scented bath. She couldn't believe he'd caught the way she was looking at him. He was telling the truth though. He was definitely easy to lust after. The honest truth is that she had done so numerous times over the past few month or so, so much that he'd managed to seep into a dream once or twice…or more.

She pondered over the meaning of his words earlier. "Did he admit that he looks at me sometimes?"

She gave a mental sigh and sank below the water's surface.

_What is he doing to me_? She wondered, other than driving her insane of course.

He'd argued with her nonstop since he'd began staying there, which was usual. She could tolerate that; that was normal. But lately, he'd been doing things. Things that were out of the usual, that she couldn't understand him doing. Allowing physical contact between them, sometimes initiating it, revealing things about himself; personal things that made her realize that he wasn't as 'evil' as he thought he was. Dare she admit it; he had some moments where he was actually decent toward her. And sometimes he even went as far as to look at her with softness in his eyes. What was going on with him? With them?

Suddenly, Bulma heard a noise that pulled her out of her thoughts. "What was that?" She wondered. The noise was fuzzy because she was submerged in water. She listened closer. It sounded like running water. She began to question if she'd left the water running from the faucet at the sink, but quickly recalled that she'd for sure cut it off. "Is that the shower?" She popped up out the water, her hair covered in suds. It was! Realization sank in. It could only be one person.

"VEGETAAAAA!" She yelled, reaching frantically for her towel and putting it on below the water's surface as to not expose her body to him.

"What do you want woman?" he said plainly to her, his clothes in a pile on the floor, he in the shower of the bathroom scrubbing his hair with her fruity shampoo.

"WHY ARE YOU IN HERE RIGHT NOW? YOU KNEW THAT I WAS IN HERE!" she yelled, too scared to look at him squarely in the face through the glass door of the shower.

"Yes, but you weren't using the shower woman. Now leave me alone like you said you would, I'm showering."

"UGGHHH!" She exclaimed while climbing out of her bath, the wet towel clinging very closely to all the curves of her body.

"Woman you should have known I wanted to use this shower. After all, you were the one that told me I needed it."

_How her words always seemed to come back to bite her._ "Ugh Vegeta!" She stomped over to the shower, too angry to care about his nudity. "You–", suddenly her words stopped. _His nudity_….

Her eyes trailed a lusty path down his body. Even through the blurring glass door, his body was a sight to see; perfect toned muscles on every inch, and he was larger _there_ than she'd ever expected he would be. _How does he hide that thing in spandex?_ She wondered. He was definitely built like a god. Suddenly, she couldn't recall why she was so angry.

"HEY WOMAN!" he yelled at her, "do you have anything of monetary value? This isn't a free show!" He was turning off the shower.

Bulma snapped back to reality. "Oh goodness!" She stammered over the next few words that she was attempting to say, struggling to make an intelligible sentence.

He pulled the towel around his naked waistline and stepped out of the shower

She stared at him a little longer, her cheeks flushed with pink. "Screw you, Vegeta!" was all she could get out before turning quickly to leave the bathroom.

He caught her arm before she could get too far. _Not now_, she thought, feeling her skin get hot from his contact.

"Let me go you creep!"

He pulled her toward him, and cupped her jaw in his hand. He seemed to be studying her face intently. "What's wrong with you, woman. Your insult didn't even sting, and you're stuttering over your words. And why on earth do you keep looking at my body that way. Have I finally found a way to shut you up?" He laughed arrogantly.

"No! You didn't shut me up Vegeta, I'm just too peeved to think straight!" she lied, looking anywhere but at him, "And no one was looking at you, you self absorbed jerk!" Her heart was pounding, which he obviously picked up on. His hand traced a path from her jaw to chest, were it rested.

"Are you scared? Why is your heart beating so fast?"

"Scared? Of What? I'm just a little cold", which was far from true; Having Vegeta that close to her, with his body bare, was causing indescribable amounts of heat to burn under the surface of her skin.

"Well, you do have a dripping wet towel draped around your body. Based on your hardened nipples I could imagine that you are cold, though I never knew coldness to cause an _increase_ in heart rate." His eyes wandered down her body. Her eyes followed.

Realization sank in. She was standing in front of Vegeta wearing nothing but a dripping wet towel!

"Vegeta let me go!" She screamed, turning her back to him as best as she could while clenching her free arm tightly across her chest – as if that hid much of anything.

He laughed at her. "You caught an eye full looking at me, and yet you act so fretful when I barely look over you."

Bulma felt her body tense up. What did he just say? Did he just say that he was _barely_ looking over her? Who did he think he was? Who did he think _she_ was?

"What do you mean 'barely looking over' me? Vegeta I'm hot stuff and you better get with the program, Mister!" She scolded, forgetting the embarrassment she felt about her nearly nude figure.

"What an arrogant human woman you are! You? Being attractive in my warrior eyes? What a laughable thought." He released her arm.

She turned irately toward the exit of the bathroom. "And what an arrogant, egotis-!" she began to exclaim; her words were cut off when, halfway through her turn, she slipped in the large puddle of water that had been pooling at her feet from the drenched towel.

Vegeta caught her in his arms mid fall. Her breathe caught in her throat. Their eyes made contact and held it. His grip wasn't harsh or controlling like she'd expected. It was gentle, though there was something possessive about it. She decided that she like the feeling of being in his arms.

_Why couldn't she seem to get away from him?_

Unknowing, she lifted her hand to trace his jaw line. His eyes widened, still focused on hers with that softness that she'd noticed in his eyes from time to time. _Why did he have to look at her that way?_

"Vegeta…"

He could read the confusion on her face.

"Thank you" She'd softly spoke.

Vegeta wasn't particularly used to this fragile side of her. She wasn't the type to "need help" so to speak, but he was intrigued by the fact that he had caught her in a moment of vulnerability. It showed that the feisty, short tempered persona of hers was only one aspect of her obviously dimensional personality. He wondered what other layers there were to be discovered…

He released her once she found her footing. "Don't be so clumsy. Next time I'll allow you to fall and bust your head open" he retorted back.

She stepped carefully over the puddle that had been left by her towel. It felt so heavy. She looked back at him over her shoulder.

"I'll work on that one," she shot back, not being in the arguing mood. After pulling her mind off of the intimate moment they'd just shared, Bulma recalled the conversation that was going on right before she almost busted her tail. _So he barely looked over her, eh?_ A bold feeling grew heavy in her gut. She did owe him one after all.

"And Vegeta," He paused from picking up his clothes to look up at her. His eyes widened and his clothes fell to the floor. "Consider us even."

She'd dropped her towel to the floor; his jaw seemed to drop just as far. With a wink and a snicker she quickly turned and left out of the bathroom, escaping before Vegeta had time to respond, leaving only a drenched bath towel behind.

His face grew hot and flushed with red. Once he finally got over the initial shock of being flashed, he started to go after her to confront her for the insulting gesture until remembering that she was still in the buff. He growled loudly, angry that he had no choice but to accept defeat in this round.

"VULGAR WOMAN!" he called after her, earning him a piercing, victorious cackle that echoed throughout the hallway. He gritted his teeth, contemplating blowing up her beloved bathtub for revenge. He decided against it.

After replaying the incident in his head a few times he secretly thanked the gods that she decided to get even with him by using the "eye for an eye" motto instead of coming up with something of monetary value in exchange for the looks she'd taken at him while he showered.

That didn't change the fact that he hated losing. He went back to picking up his pile of dirty clothes, deciding that, suddenly, another training session was in order. Before leaving the bathroom Vegeta thought over the incident one last time.

With a sigh and mental shrug he headed towards his living quarters. Maybe losing wasn't always so bad after all…


End file.
